A few months ago I reviewed the previous album by French dark ambient project Day Before Us (read). Now, after going back to its original one-man formation, the act returns with an album on the well-known dark music label OPN. In a way, that doesn't surprise me much since both fit very well together as far as atmosphere and quality are concerned. That being said, yes, this is an excellent album, one of the calmest neo-classical albums I've ever heard.

In fact, the album often walks on the thin line between brightness and darkness. Opener 'Lorsque la nuit lasse étreint l'inconnu' dwells in the world of people like Olafur Arnalds and other modern piano composers. Gently soundscapes and soothing waves accompany the piano. Then, gently but steadily, Day Before Us starts dragging us down into a mythical and gloomy world as the album slowly gets darker.

'Ecstasy of the stigmatist' drives on a torpid tempo, created by deep, slow beats and church organ. The atmosphere starts to gets somewhat grim and the portals to the darkest regions of Day Before Us' mysterious world open. 'Voyna serdtsa' brings out the female vocals which have a siren-like effect, luring you in. Here we come closer to acts like Elend or Die Verbannten Kinder Evas.

But just when I've finally decided that this is dark ambient, Day Before Us comes up with Klaus Schulze influences, a bit on the darker side but still. They're noticeable in the beatless rhythm of 'Alda börnom'. Shortly after, there also comes a bit of pagan folk shining through, adding plenty of variation to this album.

In all, I think you should really check this out if you're a fan of gloomy music. The atmosphere is perfect, the production is excellent, the music never gets obtrusive or cliche and the female vocals are heavenly. Day Before Us certainly perfected his craft for this one so it should not be a surprise that this album comes highly recommended.